“Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton（骨骼）in the closet（衣橱）?” Jessica asked. “A skeleton in the closet?” her mother paused thoughtfully. “Well, it’s something that you would rather not have anyone else know about. For example, if in the past, someone in Dad’s family had been arrested for stealing a horse, it would be ‘a skeleton in his family’s closet’. He really wouldn’t want any neighbor to know about it.”

“Why pick on my family?” Jessica’s father said with anger. “Your family history isn’t so good, you know. Wasn’t your great-great-grandfather a prisoner who was transported to Australia for his crimes?” “Yes, but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners.” “Gosh, sorry I asked. I think I understand now,” Jessica cut in before things grew worse.

After dinner, the house was very quiet. Jessica’s parents were still quite angry with each other. Her mother was ironing clothes and every now and then she glared at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper pretending to read. When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Jessica’s closet. Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor. Jessica’s mother sank in a faint（晕倒）, waking only when Jessica put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter.

“What happened? Where am I?” she asked. “You just destroyed the school’s skeleton, Mum,” explained Jessica. “I brought it home to help me with my health project. I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad.” Jessica looked in amazement as her parents began to laugh madly. “They’re both crazy,” she thought.

1.According to Jessica’s mother, “a skeleton in the close” means ______.

 A. a family honor     B. a family story     C. a family secret       D. a family treasure

2.What can we learn about some Australians’ ancestors form Paragraph 2?

 A. They were brought to Australia as prisoners.

 B. They were the earliest people living in Australia.

 C. They were involved in some crimes in Australia.

 D. They were not regarded as criminals in their days.

3.Jessica’s mother fell down into a faint because she was ______.

 A. frightened          B. knocked          C. injured            D. surprised

4.Why did Jessica bring a skeleton home?

 A. She planned to keep it for fun.          

B. She needed it for her school task.

 C. She was curious about it.

D. She intended to scare her parents.

5.Jessica’s parents laughed madly at the end of the story probably because ______.

   A. they were crazy                      

B. they were over excited

   C. they realized their misunderstanding    

D. they both thought they had won the quarrel

From birth to death, the word kick has been given an important part in expressing human experience. The proud and happy mother feels the first signs of life kicking inside her body. And that same life------many years later------ comes to its end in a widely-used expression, to kick the bucket( 吊桶) .  The expression to kick the bucket is almost 200 years old.  One belief is that it started when an English stableman(马夫) killed himself by hanging  while standing on a bucket. He put a rope around his neck and tied it to a beam(梁柱) in the ceiling, and then kicked the bucket away from under him.

Another old expression that comes from England is to kick over the traces. Traces were the chains（链子） that held at horse or mule to a wagon(货运马车)or plow. Sometimes, an animal refused to obey and kicked over the traces.

Kick around is an expression that is heard often in American English. A person who is kicked around is someone who is treated badly. Usually he is not really being kicked by somebody's foot. He is just not being treated with the respect that all of us want. A person who has kicked around for most of his life is someone who has spent his life moving from place to place. In this case, kicking around means moving often from one place to another. Kick around has another meaning when you use it with the word idea. When you kick around an idea, you are giving that idea some thought.

There is no physical action when you kick a person upstairs, although the pain can be as strong .You kick a person upstairs by removing him from an important job and giving him a job that sounds more important, but really is not.

Still another meaning of the word kick is to free oneself of a bad habit, such as smoking cigarettes. Health campaigns urge smokers to kick the habit.

1.It is clear that the author wants to help readers _____________.

A．know English has a long history

B．understand the development of English

C．enjoy the interest of English idioms（习语）

D．learn English expressions with Kick

2.What does the idiom "kick over the traces" in "All kids seem to want to kick over the traces and do what they like to" means ____________.     

A．disobey the commands                   B．obey the traditions

C． ride a horse or mule                    D．punish animals strictly

3.Mr. Smith always kicked his sons around with no excuse, in other words, his sons___________

A．expressed their ideas freely               B．were looked after well

C．moved their family often                  D．were treated badly

4.How many different kinds of meanings are talked about on;'kick around' in the text?

A．One.             B．Two.              C．Three.            D．Four.

5.Though Tom got raised to a better position by his boss, he had no power, we can say __________

A．the boss kicked Tom upstairs               B．Tom kicked the bucket

C．Tom kicked the bad habit                  D．Tom kicked around an idea

May: Happenings from the past

May 5, 1884

Isaac Murphy, son of a slave and perhaps the greatest horse rider in American history, rides Buchanan to win his first Kentucky Derby. He becomes the first rider ever to win the race three times.

May 9, 1754

Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette produces perhaps the first American political cartoon(漫画), showing a snake cut in pieces, with the words “ Join or Die" printed under the picture.

May 11, 1934

The first great dust storm of the Great Plains Dust Bowl, the result of years of drought(干旱)，blows topsoil all the way to New York City and Washington, D.C.

May 19,1994

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, former first lady and one of the most famous people of the 1960s, died of cancer in New York City at the age of 64.

May 24,1844

Samuel F. B. Morse taps out the first message, “What hath God wrought, "over the experimental long-distance telegraph line which runs from Washington, D.C. , to Baltimore, Md.

1. We know from the text that Buchanan is ______

A. Isaac's father　　　　　　　　　B. a winning horse

C. a slave taking care of horses　　　D. the first racing horse in Kentucky

2. What is the title of the first American political cartoon? 

A. Join or Die　　　                B. Pennsylvania Gazette

C. What Hath God Wrought            D. Kentucky Derby　　　       

3. In which year did the former first lady Jacqueline die? 

 A.1934.　　　　B.1960.　　　　C.1964. 　　　D.1994.

4. Which of the following places has to do with the first telegram in history?

A. Washington, D. C.　　　　         B. New York City.　　　　　　　　

C. Kentucky                          D. Pennsylvania

Once there was an old farmer, with a horse which was almost as old as himself. He __26__ one morning with his young son, __27__the horse before it died. Father and son walked, __28__the farmer did not want the horse to be__29__. ?

They met two men on the road__30__said: “Why are you walking, farmer? You have a horse. It's __31__to market.” The farmer knew that this was__32__, so he rode on the horse, __33__his son walked. ?

Then they met two old ladies. “__34__are you doing up there, farmer? Can't you__35__how tired your boy is?” __36__the farmer got down, and his son rode__37__. ?__38__, three old men stopped them. One said: “Why are you walking, farmer?__39__. It's too hot for an old man like you to walk today.” So the farmer got up　 40__his son, and they__41__. __42__, a young woman passed them. “Why aren't you walking?” she asked. “It isn't __43_ to market. Give your poor old horse a rest.”

So the farmer, and his son, got down__44__. ?

It is a fact that you cannot please__45__the people all the time. ?

“Hey, Dad, are you going to come to my award ceremony tonight?” I   36   asked my father.

“I have to work late tonight. I doubt I’ll be able to   37   it on time. I am just too busy right now,” he replied.

    My mind could not   38   the idea that he would be too busy working late. He was also too busy to   39   my horse show and the 15th birthday party. He always used the same   40  . Why had I even bothered to ask?   41  , there was always a slight hope that tonight would be   42  .

As my mother and I arrived at school, two friends   43   me. “Jill, meet my dad. Dad, this is my friend Jill.” I shook the hand of a tall man. Camera flashes lit up the room, and claps filled the   44   as students accepted their awards. My name was finally called,   45   three others. I followed my classmates to the   46  . When I reached out my hand to shake the   47  , a big smile lit up her face. The blinding flash from my mother’s camera   48   my eyes and I knew my dad wasn’t there. I walked back to my seat   49  . I told myself he would not be   50  .      

However, a tall and strong figure suddenly greeted me as I  51   backward casually. I saw my father seated on the bench   52   at me among the audience! At that very moment I could feel my tears   53   . I showed my   54   to him, tears rolling down my face at last. I wondered  55  anybody else in the world could ever be any happier than I.

 1.A. confidently       B. eagerly      C. proudly      D. urgently

 2. A. reach                B. keep         C. take         D. make

 3. A. follow           B. support      C. appreciate       D. accept

 4.A. join              B. avoid            C. attend           D. afford

 5.A. excuse            B. reason           C. promise      D. trick

 6. A. Besides          B. Thus         C. Otherwise        D. However

 7. A. active           B. formal           C. different        D. serious

  8.A. recognized       B. greeted      C. introduced       D. welcomed

 9. A. air              B. hall         C. office           D. gym

  10.A. as well         B. other than       C. out of           D. along with

  11.A. stage               B. position     C. room         D. exit

  12. A. classmate’s    B. teacher’s    C. mother’s     D. father’s

  13.A. fixed               B. touched      C. hurt         D. inserted

  14.A. successfully        B. disappointedly   C. delightedly      D. hopefully

  15.A. loved               B. disturbed        C. forgiven     D. respected

16.A. stepped           B. noticed      C. examined     D. glanced

 17.A. smiling          B. staring          C. laughing     D. crying

  18.A. getting off         B. taking down  C. building up      D. turning around

 19.A. pride                B. award            C. reward           D. congratulations

  20.A. when                B. how          C. whether      D. that